Space Nuts Episode 486: James Webb's First Image and Cosmic Mysteries Unveiled
Join Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson as they delve into the latest astronomical marvels in this exciting episode of Space Nuts. From the groundbreaking first image captured by the James Webb Space Telescope to intriguing listener questions about galaxy sizes and cosmic mysteries, this episode is packed with stellar insights.
Episode Highlights:
- James Webb's First Image: Discover the breathtaking first image from the James Webb Space Telescope, revealing a cluster of galaxies in stunning detail. Learn how this new tool surpasses the Hubble Telescope's capabilities and what it means for the future of space exploration.
- Galaxy Size Anomalies : Explore the fascinating question from Alex in New South Wales about why galaxies appear to change size at different distances. Fred Watson Watson explains the peculiar properties of our expanding universe that lead to this phenomenon.
- Dark Matter Discoveries: Anna from Astronomy Daily shares groundbreaking research into the GD1 Stellar Stream, suggesting a new understanding of dark matter involving self-interacting subhalos. Discover how this could revolutionise our knowledge of the universe's fundamental structure.
- China's Rocket Advancements : Learn about China's impressive technological strides with successful tests of multiple rocket engines in a single day. Understand how these developments could impact future lunar and Mars missions.
For more Space Nuts, including our continually updating newsfeed and to listen to all our episodes, visit our website. (https://www.spacenutspodcast.com/about)
Stay curious, keep looking up, and join us next time for more stellar insights and cosmic wonders. Until then, clear skies and happy stargazing.
00:00 - Andrew Dunkley welcomes Professor Fred Watson to Space Nuts
02:53 - The James Webb Space Telescope has released its first deep field image
10:32 - Fred and Andrew welcome Alex from Bellingen, New South Wales
11:00 - It's common understanding that distance reduces apparent size of galaxies
15:31 - Astronomers may have finally cracked a long standing cosmic mystery about GD1
17:57 - China conducted tests of five different rocket engines in a single day
✍️ Episode References
James Webb Space Telescope
Hubble Space Telescope
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/index.html
SMACS 0723
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMACS_J0723.3%E2%80%937327
Abel clusters
https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/Abell/frames.html
Astronomy Daily
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
http://www.spacechina.com/n25/n2014789/English/index.html
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts--2631155/support (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts--2631155/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss) .
Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/25064166?utm_source=youtube
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 with Fred and I taking a little bit of a
00:00:02 --> 00:00:05 break we thought it'd be great to dig
00:00:05 --> 00:00:06 into the archives and see what sort of
00:00:07 --> 00:00:09 stories really captured the imaginations
00:00:09 --> 00:00:12 of people around the world things like
00:00:12 --> 00:00:14 opening up moon rocks 50 years after
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 they were collected uh other things like
00:00:17 --> 00:00:20 the first photographs taken by James web
00:00:20 --> 00:00:23 or the first image of Sagittarius A star
00:00:23 --> 00:00:24 those are the kinds of things we've been
00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 talking about over the years so sit back
00:00:27 --> 00:00:30 relax and enjoy archival EP episodes of
00:00:30 --> 00:00:34 Space Nuts Space Nuts hi there thanks
00:00:34 --> 00:00:36 for joining us on another edition of
00:00:36 --> 00:00:39 Space Nuts my name is Andrew Dunley your
00:00:39 --> 00:00:42 host and today on the program we are
00:00:42 --> 00:00:44 going to be talking about the big news
00:00:44 --> 00:00:47 of the week probably the big news of the
00:00:47 --> 00:00:50 Year and that is the first image
00:00:50 --> 00:00:53 official image from the James web Space
00:00:53 --> 00:00:56 Telescope uh it's only been announced in
00:00:56 --> 00:00:58 the last hour or two since we started
00:00:58 --> 00:01:01 recording so uh it's fresh off the press
00:01:01 --> 00:01:03 or off the president's desk whichever
00:01:03 --> 00:01:06 way you want to look at it and Alex from
00:01:06 --> 00:01:08 New South Wales is apparently going to
00:01:08 --> 00:01:11 ask a question about the size of
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 galaxies uh that's all to come on this
00:01:13 --> 00:01:16 edition of Space Nuts 15 seconds
00:01:17 --> 00:01:21 guidance is internal 10 9 ignition
00:01:21 --> 00:01:26 sequence start Space Nuts 5 4 3 2 1 2 3
00:01:26 --> 00:01:31 4 5 5 4 3 2 1 Space Nuts rep it feels
00:01:31 --> 00:01:34 good and joining us as always is
00:01:34 --> 00:01:36 Professor Fred what's an astronomer at
00:01:36 --> 00:01:39 large hello Fred how are you very well
00:01:39 --> 00:01:41 thanks very excited with all that's
00:01:41 --> 00:01:44 going on oh man it's just crazy town at
00:01:44 --> 00:01:47 the moment yeah it is the astronomy
00:01:47 --> 00:01:50 world is a Gog a Gog that's right that's
00:01:50 --> 00:01:53 not a word I get to use very
00:01:53 --> 00:01:56 often yeah go I like a Gog I think it's
00:01:56 --> 00:01:58 got a ring to
00:01:58 --> 00:02:01 it uh yeah that um we'll we'll get to
00:02:01 --> 00:02:03 that in a moment of course we have
00:02:03 --> 00:02:05 plenty to talk about and uh some
00:02:05 --> 00:02:07 audience questions as I as I
00:02:07 --> 00:02:11 mentioned uh and and you've got a studio
00:02:11 --> 00:02:13 guest Fred are you able to share this
00:02:13 --> 00:02:15 with our viewing audience if you're if
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 you're watching us on YouTube You're get
00:02:17 --> 00:02:19 ready for a
00:02:19 --> 00:02:21 surprise let to let everybody know that
00:02:21 --> 00:02:25 he still exists there's muskat mus or
00:02:25 --> 00:02:27 family cat who normally doesn't uh come
00:02:27 --> 00:02:30 into the study here because it leaves
00:02:30 --> 00:02:32 copious quantities of hair wherever he
00:02:32 --> 00:02:34 goes but he's been asleep there in the
00:02:34 --> 00:02:37 chair all morning and all mostly
00:02:37 --> 00:02:40 afternoon so he's still here he's doing
00:02:40 --> 00:02:41 say much these days he's doing his hats
00:02:41 --> 00:02:44 proud because that's what cats do
00:02:44 --> 00:02:46 best
00:02:46 --> 00:02:50 yep it's good to have Muscat in the
00:02:50 --> 00:02:53 studio right let us get down to business
00:02:53 --> 00:02:57 and first on the agenda is this amazing
00:02:57 --> 00:02:59 image that has been delivered by the
00:02:59 --> 00:03:02 James web Space Telescope it's been a
00:03:02 --> 00:03:04 lot of anticipation about what the first
00:03:04 --> 00:03:07 image would be a lot of anticipation
00:03:07 --> 00:03:11 about how far reaching the James web
00:03:11 --> 00:03:14 Space Telescope will be in um its
00:03:14 --> 00:03:18 capacity to provide Deep Field imagery
00:03:18 --> 00:03:22 from far far back in the uh universe and
00:03:22 --> 00:03:25 it has not disappointed Fred not at all
00:03:25 --> 00:03:28 that's right so um what what we're
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 seeing and and I would guess most of our
00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 listeners will have seen this because I
00:03:32 --> 00:03:34 think it's going to be the cover picture
00:03:34 --> 00:03:38 on the on the podcast for today see uh
00:03:38 --> 00:03:41 really is a beautiful image of a cluster
00:03:41 --> 00:03:45 of galaxies uh which as always has a
00:03:45 --> 00:03:50 gobble de name it is smacs
00:03:50 --> 00:03:54 0723 um uh
00:03:54 --> 00:03:56 smac stands for streaming motions in
00:03:57 --> 00:04:00 Abel clusters okay uh and and Abel
00:04:00 --> 00:04:02 clusters are clusters that were
00:04:02 --> 00:04:04 cataloged by George Abel who I knew when
00:04:04 --> 00:04:06 he worked in Edinburgh for a while uh so
00:04:06 --> 00:04:09 cluster is a cluster of galaxies um but
00:04:09 --> 00:04:11 of course like so many of these giant
00:04:11 --> 00:04:14 clusters its mass acts as a
00:04:14 --> 00:04:17 gravitational lens uh magnifying and
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 distorting the images of galaxies in the
00:04:19 --> 00:04:22 far distance behind it um and so this
00:04:22 --> 00:04:26 particular cluster um shows up uh
00:04:26 --> 00:04:29 beautifully in you know the the kind of
00:04:29 --> 00:04:31 colors that you would expect so as you
00:04:31 --> 00:04:32 know the James web telescope is an
00:04:32 --> 00:04:36 infrared telescope excuse me so uh it
00:04:36 --> 00:04:38 can look at the image in various
00:04:38 --> 00:04:41 infrared wave bands and what you can do
00:04:41 --> 00:04:43 is sort of equate those to visible light
00:04:43 --> 00:04:47 wave bands so that things uh that uh are
00:04:47 --> 00:04:50 in the far infrared show up as red in
00:04:50 --> 00:04:53 the visible uh things that are you know
00:04:53 --> 00:04:56 in the mid infrared show up as as as
00:04:56 --> 00:04:58 white things that are in the near
00:04:58 --> 00:05:00 infrared in other words not much reder
00:05:00 --> 00:05:01 than red they'll show up probably as
00:05:01 --> 00:05:03 blue I'm not quite sure how they did the
00:05:03 --> 00:05:05 color balancing in this image but
00:05:05 --> 00:05:06 they've got it absolutely right because
00:05:06 --> 00:05:09 the nearby stars are blue um the
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 relatively nearby cluster of galaxies is
00:05:12 --> 00:05:14 white and the distant ones as you might
00:05:14 --> 00:05:15 expect it because they're highly red
00:05:15 --> 00:05:19 shifted they look orange in color um and
00:05:19 --> 00:05:21 again distorted so we're looking back
00:05:21 --> 00:05:25 here um you know uh it will be well the
00:05:25 --> 00:05:28 the nearby cluster is 4.6 billion light
00:05:28 --> 00:05:30 years away uh the one Beyond it could be
00:05:30 --> 00:05:32 double that um I haven't seen the
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 results of that but it's it's a long way
00:05:34 --> 00:05:38 off uh and what I think is most telling
00:05:38 --> 00:05:41 about this image so this is um being
00:05:41 --> 00:05:44 called web's first Deep Field image um
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 and you probably remember because we've
00:05:46 --> 00:05:48 talked about it before the Hubble
00:05:48 --> 00:05:50 telescope produced a number of Deep
00:05:50 --> 00:05:53 Field images deep being how how far into
00:05:53 --> 00:05:55 the universe you're looking how far into
00:05:55 --> 00:05:58 the past you're looking um and there was
00:05:58 --> 00:06:02 the the the Deep Field the Hubble I
00:06:02 --> 00:06:04 can't remember what the the ultra Deep
00:06:04 --> 00:06:05 Field I think was the last one there
00:06:05 --> 00:06:08 were a number in between as well um but
00:06:08 --> 00:06:11 they took weeks of time on the Hubble
00:06:11 --> 00:06:14 Space Telescope to build up the imagery
00:06:14 --> 00:06:16 I remember the first one they they chose
00:06:16 --> 00:06:18 the part of Sky because there was
00:06:18 --> 00:06:21 nothing visible in it and so then they
00:06:21 --> 00:06:23 they observed it for for several nights
00:06:23 --> 00:06:26 or several days um because it doesn't
00:06:26 --> 00:06:29 matter in a Space Telescope um and
00:06:29 --> 00:06:32 finally got these deep Fields so but it
00:06:32 --> 00:06:35 took up to weeks to get them the James
00:06:35 --> 00:06:40 web first Deep Field was obtained in 12
00:06:40 --> 00:06:44 hours so that's telling you uh that you
00:06:44 --> 00:06:49 know we we now have a tool that can beat
00:06:49 --> 00:06:51 the pants off the Hubble Space Telescope
00:06:51 --> 00:06:54 and that is no small achievement and of
00:06:54 --> 00:06:55 course that comes about because it's a
00:06:55 --> 00:06:59 much bigger telescope uh the Hubble Is
00:06:59 --> 00:07:04 2.3 meter telescope uh this is a 6.5
00:07:04 --> 00:07:05 meter
00:07:05 --> 00:07:08 telescope yeah it's uh and and and
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 that's really part of the reason why
00:07:11 --> 00:07:14 people have become so um excited in
00:07:14 --> 00:07:16 anticipation of what it is capable of
00:07:16 --> 00:07:19 and it's uh it's already showing its
00:07:19 --> 00:07:22 true colors buom uh you know the part
00:07:22 --> 00:07:24 that really blew my mind when I looked
00:07:24 --> 00:07:25 at the image and read the description
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 from NASA I'm sure you'll know what I'm
00:07:27 --> 00:07:30 talking about here uh Master says this
00:07:30 --> 00:07:32 image covers a patch of Sky
00:07:32 --> 00:07:34 approximately the size of a grain of
00:07:34 --> 00:07:37 sand held at arms length by someone on
00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 the ground that's right and reveals
00:07:39 --> 00:07:42 thousands of galaxies in a tiny sliver
00:07:42 --> 00:07:44 of vast
00:07:44 --> 00:07:47 space it I know we always talk about the
00:07:47 --> 00:07:49 vastness of the universe but here we are
00:07:49 --> 00:07:52 looking at a distance of maybe 4 to 8
00:07:52 --> 00:07:55 billion light years and we're looking at
00:07:55 --> 00:07:58 something that uh only takes up space
00:07:58 --> 00:08:00 the size of the grain of sand held it
00:08:00 --> 00:08:05 arms length I mean my word it just it it
00:08:05 --> 00:08:08 is or inspiring it really is yeah it
00:08:08 --> 00:08:10 blew the president away as well I don't
00:08:10 --> 00:08:12 know whether you saw the uh the NASA
00:08:12 --> 00:08:14 broadcast when this was released but
00:08:14 --> 00:08:17 President Biden uh you could tell he was
00:08:17 --> 00:08:19 absolutely captivated by all this it's
00:08:19 --> 00:08:24 fantastic to see uh such enthusiasm um
00:08:24 --> 00:08:26 and of course Andrew this is only the
00:08:26 --> 00:08:29 first of many by the time uh our listen
00:08:29 --> 00:08:32 are watching and listening to this if
00:08:32 --> 00:08:35 they watch on YouTube uh we expect uh
00:08:35 --> 00:08:38 another tranch of images to have been
00:08:38 --> 00:08:42 released um the kinds of things that
00:08:42 --> 00:08:43 we're expecting to see in fact I think
00:08:43 --> 00:08:46 we've got a fairly um a fairly good list
00:08:46 --> 00:08:49 here uh we'll see wasp
00:08:49 --> 00:08:52 96b now that is a planet that's an extra
00:08:52 --> 00:08:55 Solar Planet wasp 96b so it's going to
00:08:55 --> 00:08:58 be really interesting to see uh how that
00:08:58 --> 00:09:00 shows up we're going to see the southern
00:09:00 --> 00:09:02 Ring Nebula uh that's a planetary nebula
00:09:02 --> 00:09:04 we'll see no doubt a lot of detail in
00:09:04 --> 00:09:06 that we're going to see a cluster of
00:09:06 --> 00:09:09 galaxies a very compact uh cluster of
00:09:09 --> 00:09:11 galaxies called Stefan's quintet very
00:09:11 --> 00:09:14 well-known very beloved of Galactic uh
00:09:14 --> 00:09:16 astronomers or extra Galactic
00:09:16 --> 00:09:18 astronomers people who study the The
00:09:18 --> 00:09:20 Wider Universe these galaxies are
00:09:20 --> 00:09:21 physically close together and all
00:09:21 --> 00:09:23 interacting with one another and of
00:09:23 --> 00:09:26 course uh an object in our deep southern
00:09:26 --> 00:09:28 Sky the Karina nebula the EA Karina
00:09:28 --> 00:09:31 nebula one of the most active regions uh
00:09:31 --> 00:09:33 of space in our local neighborhood so it
00:09:33 --> 00:09:35 be really interesting to see what's
00:09:35 --> 00:09:38 going on in that too yes yes and and who
00:09:38 --> 00:09:41 knows we we might actually be focusing
00:09:41 --> 00:09:44 our cameras on alien civilizations out
00:09:44 --> 00:09:46 there somewhere and we don't even know
00:09:46 --> 00:09:48 it we don't that Dove Tales beautifully
00:09:48 --> 00:09:52 into our next story so all I'll say just
00:09:52 --> 00:09:54 to finish up with the James wor Space
00:09:54 --> 00:09:57 Telescope is watch this space as we as
00:09:57 --> 00:09:59 we've said uh because there's some
00:09:59 --> 00:10:02 exciting things to come it's uh really I
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 I think it's fantastic that they've done
00:10:04 --> 00:10:06 so well that it got in place yes it's
00:10:06 --> 00:10:07 had a couple of problems that they've
00:10:07 --> 00:10:10 managed to overcome without any adverse
00:10:10 --> 00:10:13 effect and now it's ready to do its job
00:10:13 --> 00:10:15 and uh yeah who knows what we're going
00:10:15 --> 00:10:18 to learn Fred who knows absolutely
00:10:19 --> 00:10:21 fabulous stuff you're listening to and
00:10:22 --> 00:10:24 in some places watching Space Nuts with
00:10:24 --> 00:10:29 Andrew Dunley and Professor Fred Watson
00:10:29 --> 00:10:32 and I feel fine Space Nuts uh now we'll
00:10:32 --> 00:10:37 go to uh Alex who's from a lovely uh
00:10:37 --> 00:10:38 it's it's actually a sorted nasty
00:10:39 --> 00:10:42 horrible little place called bellingen
00:10:42 --> 00:10:45 and you said come on in New South Wales
00:10:45 --> 00:10:47 it's actually a a glorious part of the
00:10:47 --> 00:10:50 world it's still yeah yeah Alex is
00:10:50 --> 00:10:52 asking about galaxies this is really
00:10:52 --> 00:10:55 good too hi Fred and Andrew it's Alex
00:10:55 --> 00:10:57 from bellingen congratulations on your
00:10:57 --> 00:11:00 300 shows May the be many more okay
00:11:00 --> 00:11:03 straight into my question it's about the
00:11:03 --> 00:11:06 apparent size of galaxies it's common
00:11:06 --> 00:11:07 understanding that the further away an
00:11:07 --> 00:11:10 object is the smaller it appears to our
00:11:10 --> 00:11:12 eyes I guess you could say the object's
00:11:12 --> 00:11:15 angular size reduces with distance just
00:11:15 --> 00:11:17 look down a long straight road lined
00:11:17 --> 00:11:20 with power poles and the poles appear
00:11:20 --> 00:11:22 smaller the further away they are but
00:11:22 --> 00:11:24 I've heard this seemingly obvious
00:11:24 --> 00:11:26 relationship between distance and
00:11:26 --> 00:11:30 apparent size does not apply to Galaxy
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 well it does to a point but at some
00:11:32 --> 00:11:34 distance away from us the apparent size
00:11:34 --> 00:11:37 of galaxies stops getting smaller and
00:11:37 --> 00:11:39 then begins to increase the further from
00:11:39 --> 00:11:42 us they are have I heard that right and
00:11:42 --> 00:11:45 if so how the heck does that work thanks
00:11:45 --> 00:11:47 and keep up the good work it's all the
00:11:47 --> 00:11:50 best oh boy you tell us Alex um that
00:11:50 --> 00:11:53 sounds bizarre Fred it does doesn't it
00:11:53 --> 00:11:56 it's an extraordinary thing but it is
00:11:56 --> 00:12:00 actually true um and
00:12:00 --> 00:12:02 it's it's a real
00:12:02 --> 00:12:07 illustration of the fact that um we live
00:12:07 --> 00:12:11 in a universe that has peculiar
00:12:11 --> 00:12:16 properties uh and it's basically uh the
00:12:16 --> 00:12:18 fact that we live in an expanding
00:12:18 --> 00:12:20 universe that causes this phenomenon to
00:12:20 --> 00:12:24 happen uh because uh if you go through
00:12:24 --> 00:12:26 the mathematics and actually there's
00:12:26 --> 00:12:27 There Are Places on the web where you
00:12:27 --> 00:12:29 can find some nice diagrams that show
00:12:29 --> 00:12:33 how this works uh the the further away
00:12:33 --> 00:12:36 you look um you get to a certain point
00:12:36 --> 00:12:38 Beyond which things don't look any
00:12:38 --> 00:12:42 smaller uh because uh you're you because
00:12:42 --> 00:12:45 the universe is expanding that's the the
00:12:45 --> 00:12:48 best way to put it um
00:12:48 --> 00:12:53 so so if you imagine
00:12:53 --> 00:12:55 um think about you know our and
00:12:55 --> 00:12:58 Andromeda galaxy our nearest neighbor
00:12:58 --> 00:13:01 which is alog together something like 2°
00:13:01 --> 00:13:05 on the sky uh at its distance of about 2
00:13:05 --> 00:13:08 and a half million light years away so
00:13:08 --> 00:13:12 if you started uh you we we envisage
00:13:12 --> 00:13:13 Andromeda we know what it's like we've
00:13:13 --> 00:13:16 all seen pictures of the androma Galaxy
00:13:16 --> 00:13:19 uh beautiful uh elongated spiral because
00:13:19 --> 00:13:22 it's tilted over towards us um 2 and a
00:13:22 --> 00:13:25 half million light years away if you
00:13:26 --> 00:13:28 took that Galaxy further and further
00:13:28 --> 00:13:29 away of course
00:13:29 --> 00:13:31 it would start looking smaller and
00:13:32 --> 00:13:33 smaller because it's getting further
00:13:33 --> 00:13:36 away the laws of physics work pretty
00:13:36 --> 00:13:39 normally over small distances but once
00:13:39 --> 00:13:45 she gets to uh a distance which is uh
00:13:46 --> 00:13:49 actually it it's the distance varies
00:13:49 --> 00:13:51 because you it depends on your model of
00:13:51 --> 00:13:54 the universe uh but I can give you the
00:13:54 --> 00:13:56 technical answer it's at a red shift of
00:13:56 --> 00:13:57 about
00:13:57 --> 00:14:00 1.5 uh and that's sort of a distance
00:14:00 --> 00:14:02 that's measured in billions of light
00:14:02 --> 00:14:03 years we probably talking about
00:14:03 --> 00:14:05 something like eight or nine billion
00:14:05 --> 00:14:07 light years once it gets to that
00:14:07 --> 00:14:10 distance it hits a minimum size which is
00:14:10 --> 00:14:12 about a thousandth of a degree remember
00:14:13 --> 00:14:15 it's it's two degrees at its present
00:14:15 --> 00:14:17 distance but it gets down to this
00:14:17 --> 00:14:21 1th of a degree Mark and and even
00:14:21 --> 00:14:23 though then you know keep on moving it
00:14:23 --> 00:14:26 away it doesn't actually get any smaller
00:14:26 --> 00:14:28 in fact it starts getting a bit bigger
00:14:28 --> 00:14:30 and that is totally bizarre but it's
00:14:30 --> 00:14:33 just about the way light behaves in an
00:14:33 --> 00:14:34 expanding
00:14:34 --> 00:14:37 Universe wow and and is this something
00:14:37 --> 00:14:39 that would be able to be demonstrated by
00:14:40 --> 00:14:42 the James web space exactly so I think
00:14:42 --> 00:14:45 we'll see you know we'll see physical
00:14:45 --> 00:14:47 proof of this happening with the gen's
00:14:47 --> 00:14:49 web Space Telescope when they they find
00:14:49 --> 00:14:51 that there are galaxies that don't seem
00:14:51 --> 00:14:53 to get any smaller even though you
00:14:53 --> 00:14:55 looking at them further and further away
00:14:55 --> 00:14:56 quite
00:14:56 --> 00:14:59 incredible that's um the same effect
00:14:59 --> 00:15:01 I have when I hit a golf ball it doesn't
00:15:01 --> 00:15:04 get smaller or smaller it stays about
00:15:04 --> 00:15:08 the same size yes suggests I'm not
00:15:08 --> 00:15:10 really hitting it very far at
00:15:10 --> 00:15:13 all never mind if you hit it it start
00:15:13 --> 00:15:14 getting
00:15:14 --> 00:15:18 bigger it's coming back to you yes
00:15:18 --> 00:15:20 absolutely uh thanks Alex and hope all
00:15:20 --> 00:15:22 is well in Belling I know you've been
00:15:22 --> 00:15:25 getting rained upon by cats and dogs and
00:15:25 --> 00:15:27 camels and who knows what else in recent
00:15:27 --> 00:15:28 times so hopefully it'll start to dry
00:15:28 --> 00:15:29 out
00:15:29 --> 00:15:31 [Music]
00:15:31 --> 00:15:34 soon Space Nuts hello again space
00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 Nutters this is Anna from astronomy
00:15:36 --> 00:15:38 daily the podcast stopping by again with
00:15:38 --> 00:15:40 a couple of the important stories we've
00:15:40 --> 00:15:42 been following over the past week
00:15:42 --> 00:15:44 astronomers may have finally cracked a
00:15:44 --> 00:15:46 longstanding cosmic mystery about one of
00:15:46 --> 00:15:49 our Galaxy's most intriguing features
00:15:49 --> 00:15:52 the gd1 Stellar stream this ribbon-like
00:15:52 --> 00:15:54 structure of stars which stretches
00:15:54 --> 00:15:56 across our Galaxy's Halo has puzzled
00:15:56 --> 00:15:58 scientists for years due to its unusual
00:15:58 --> 00:16:00 pattern of gaps and Spurs that seem to
00:16:01 --> 00:16:02 defy conventional
00:16:02 --> 00:16:04 explanations a team led by researchers
00:16:04 --> 00:16:06 at the University of California
00:16:06 --> 00:16:08 Riverside has proposed an exciting
00:16:08 --> 00:16:10 solution involving dark matter but not
00:16:10 --> 00:16:12 just any dark matter their research
00:16:12 --> 00:16:14 suggests these distinctive features were
00:16:14 --> 00:16:16 created by what's called a
00:16:16 --> 00:16:19 self-interacting dark matter sub Halo a
00:16:19 --> 00:16:21 dense concentration of dark matter that
00:16:21 --> 00:16:23 behaves differently than the traditional
00:16:23 --> 00:16:25 cold Dark Matter model we're familiar
00:16:25 --> 00:16:27 with what makes this discovery
00:16:27 --> 00:16:29 particularly fascinating is that the
00:16:29 --> 00:16:31 density needed to create these unusual
00:16:32 --> 00:16:35 patterns in gd1 is much higher than what
00:16:35 --> 00:16:37 we'd expect from conventional Dark
00:16:37 --> 00:16:39 Matter theories the research team found
00:16:39 --> 00:16:41 that only a collapsing subh of
00:16:41 --> 00:16:43 self-interacting Dark Matter could
00:16:43 --> 00:16:45 achieve the necessary density to produce
00:16:45 --> 00:16:48 these distinctive features we observe
00:16:48 --> 00:16:50 this isn't just about solving one
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52 mysterious structure in our galaxy if
00:16:53 --> 00:16:54 confirmed these findings could
00:16:54 --> 00:16:56 fundamentally change our understanding
00:16:56 --> 00:16:59 of Dark Matter itself remember Dark
00:16:59 --> 00:17:01 Matter makes up about 85% of all matter
00:17:01 --> 00:17:04 in the universe yet we still know
00:17:04 --> 00:17:06 remarkably little about its true nature
00:17:06 --> 00:17:08 This research suggests that dark matter
00:17:08 --> 00:17:10 particles might interact with each other
00:17:10 --> 00:17:12 through a new kind of force rather than
00:17:12 --> 00:17:14 being completely invisible to one
00:17:14 --> 00:17:17 another as previously thought the team
00:17:17 --> 00:17:19 used sophisticated computer simulations
00:17:19 --> 00:17:21 to model how this self-interacting dark
00:17:21 --> 00:17:23 matter would behave and the results
00:17:23 --> 00:17:25 matched perfectly with the observed
00:17:25 --> 00:17:28 features in the gd1 Stream it's like
00:17:28 --> 00:17:30 finding the piece of a puzzle that's
00:17:30 --> 00:17:32 been sitting on the table for years
00:17:32 --> 00:17:34 suddenly revealing a whole new picture
00:17:34 --> 00:17:36 of how our galaxy Works what's
00:17:36 --> 00:17:38 particularly exciting about this
00:17:38 --> 00:17:40 discovery is that it opens up new ways
00:17:40 --> 00:17:43 to study dark matter by looking at
00:17:43 --> 00:17:45 Stellar streams like gd1 we might be
00:17:45 --> 00:17:47 able to better understand not just where
00:17:47 --> 00:17:50 dark matter is but how it behaves and
00:17:50 --> 00:17:52 interacts with itself something that
00:17:52 --> 00:17:54 could revolutionize our understanding of
00:17:54 --> 00:17:56 the universe's fundamental
00:17:57 --> 00:17:59 structure next a little mystery from
00:17:59 --> 00:18:01 China that has set the space Community
00:18:01 --> 00:18:04 buzzing in a remarkable display of
00:18:04 --> 00:18:06 technological advancement China's space
00:18:06 --> 00:18:08 program has taken a significant Leap
00:18:08 --> 00:18:10 Forward conducting tests of five
00:18:10 --> 00:18:12 different rocket engines all in a single
00:18:12 --> 00:18:14 day the China Aerospace Science and
00:18:14 --> 00:18:17 Technology Corporation or Cass C carried
00:18:17 --> 00:18:18 out these tests at two separate
00:18:19 --> 00:18:21 locations Beijing and lwan county in
00:18:21 --> 00:18:24 heay Province one of the most notable
00:18:24 --> 00:18:26 tests involved a new hydrogen oxygen
00:18:26 --> 00:18:29 engine designed for upper stage Rockets
00:18:29 --> 00:18:31 during its 100 second test firing
00:18:31 --> 00:18:33 Engineers gathered crucial performance
00:18:33 --> 00:18:35 data that could pave the way for future
00:18:35 --> 00:18:37 missions this wasn't just any routine
00:18:37 --> 00:18:40 test it's believed to be connected to
00:18:40 --> 00:18:42 China's ambitious plans for crude lunar
00:18:42 --> 00:18:44 missions specifically their Long March
00:18:44 --> 00:18:47 10th launcher program but that's not all
00:18:47 --> 00:18:49 that was tested that day in Beijing
00:18:49 --> 00:18:51 Engineers put three different engines
00:18:51 --> 00:18:54 through their Paces a main engine an
00:18:54 --> 00:18:56 upper stage engine and a reaction and
00:18:56 --> 00:18:58 Orbit Control engine while spefic
00:18:58 --> 00:19:00 specific details about which Rockets
00:19:00 --> 00:19:02 these engines are destined for remain
00:19:02 --> 00:19:04 Under Wraps it's clear that China is
00:19:04 --> 00:19:07 developing multiple launch capabilities
00:19:07 --> 00:19:10 simultaneously perhaps most intriguingly
00:19:10 --> 00:19:12 the testing day included a methane
00:19:12 --> 00:19:14 liquid oxygen engine at the lwan
00:19:14 --> 00:19:17 facility this type of engine represents
00:19:17 --> 00:19:19 The Cutting Edge of Rocket technology
00:19:19 --> 00:19:21 with several Chinese companies already
00:19:21 --> 00:19:23 developing similar systems it's worth
00:19:23 --> 00:19:25 noting that Cassie is working on a
00:19:25 --> 00:19:27 particularly powerful version for their
00:19:27 --> 00:19:30 Long March 9th Mega rocket project these
00:19:30 --> 00:19:32 tests signal China's commitment to
00:19:32 --> 00:19:34 developing a diverse range of Rocket
00:19:34 --> 00:19:37 Technologies from deep space exploration
00:19:37 --> 00:19:39 vehicles to heavy lift Rockets according
00:19:39 --> 00:19:41 to KSC Engineers this is just the
00:19:41 --> 00:19:43 beginning they're planning to conduct
00:19:43 --> 00:19:45 even more research and testing of
00:19:45 --> 00:19:47 various engine types for China's major
00:19:47 --> 00:19:49 space projects suggesting we might see
00:19:49 --> 00:19:51 several new Chinese Rockets debut in the
00:19:51 --> 00:19:54 coming year this coordinated testing
00:19:54 --> 00:19:56 effort demonstrates China's growing
00:19:56 --> 00:19:58 capabilities in space technology and
00:19:58 --> 00:20:00 their determination to become a major
00:20:00 --> 00:20:02 player in space exploration with these
00:20:02 --> 00:20:04 successful tests they're laying the
00:20:04 --> 00:20:06 groundwork for increasingly ambitious
00:20:06 --> 00:20:09 missions from lunar exploration to
00:20:09 --> 00:20:11 potential Mars voyages and that's it
00:20:11 --> 00:20:14 from me for this episode of Space Nuts
00:20:14 --> 00:20:16 I'm Anna don't forget to visit astronomy
00:20:16 --> 00:20:18 daily. for your daily fix of space and
00:20:19 --> 00:20:21 astronomy news updates we're constantly
00:20:21 --> 00:20:23 updating the site with the latest
00:20:23 --> 00:20:25 discoveries Mission updates and Cosmic
00:20:25 --> 00:20:27 wonders until our next adventure through
00:20:27 --> 00:20:29 the cosmos keep looking up and stay
00:20:29 --> 00:20:30 curious about the Mysteries that
00:20:31 --> 00:20:33 surround us in space Space Nuts you'll
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00:20:48 --> 00:20:50 another quality podcast production from
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